Signal and order attachment for rural-route mail-boxes.



J. BROGKWAY.

SIGNAL AND ORDER ATTACHMENT FOR RURAL ROUTE MAIL BOXES APPLICATION FILED MAR. 31, 1906.

905,284. .Patented Dem, 1908.

y Order Attachments for JOSEPH H. BRCKWAY, 0F BUCKNER, MISSOURI.

SIGNAL AD ORDER ATTACHJIENT FOR RURAL-ROUTE MAIL-BOXES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1, 1908.

Application mea March a1, 190s. sesame-124,300. y

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. BROCK- war, a citizen of; the United States,residing at Buckner, in the county of Jackson 'and Stateof Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in 4Signal and Rural-Route Mail- Boxes, of which the followingis a specilication.

This invention relates to a signal and order attachmentfor rural route inail boxes, and my object is to produce a device of this characterv for attachment to a rural route mail box to indicate to the carrier that the box contains a letter to be forwarded or that the owner of the box desires certain supplies or other service. ,i

A further object is to produce a device of this character whereby the carrier is instructed regarding thev particular service desired.

A still further object is to produce an attachment of the character outlined having a box to receive an amount of money 'suiiicient to pay for registering a letter or for a supply of stamps' of the desired denomina- Ation and character or for postal cards, stamped envelope or money orders.

A still further object is to produce an attachment of the character described of simple, strong, durablecompact and cheap construction and which can be easily vand quickly engaged with or ldisengaged from the mail box, and'which furthermore vcan be secured reliably in position against removal b'y an unauthorized person by simply fastening the lid of the mail boX.

hereinafter appear, the invention, consists- With these objects in view andothers as in certain novel and peculiar features of construction and organization as hereinafter' described and claimed; and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure l, is a perspective view of a rural route mail box equipped with an attachment embodying my invention. Fig. 2, is an enlarged rear View ofthe same. section on the line lll of Fig. l, on a larger scale than. Fig. Fig. his a horizontal section taken on :he line lV-JV of Fig. 3. i

' In the said drawing, a piece of sheet metal l, tapering at its upper eud is bent to providc the forwardly projecting step 2 at its lower end and to providethc downwardly Fig. 3, is a Idisposed hook 3 at its rear side and upper end, which hook is adapted for engagement with one of the vertical walls of a mail box, as hereinafter more particularly lreferred to.

The body portion of the metal plate is bent at its sidemargins to form the inwardly disposed angles 4, a downwardly Adisposed angle 5 being secured to said body -portion and between the upper ends of the angle portions 4. A front plate 6 lits against the riser portion of the step 2 and against the inwardly projecting arms of the angle portionsv 4;, and the downwardly projecting arm of angle portion 5, and is secured to said portions in any suitable manner, the said front plate being provided with one or more sight openings 7. Vertioally below the sight openings, handles 8 project through the front4 plate and said handles are equipped with bolts 9, which project through disks 10, the front plate hy inner ends ot' the .bolts vand fitting 1n holes 13` in the filling strip 12 of cardboard or equivalent material. only `-stiffens or strengthens the structure but forms a frictional surface which will prevent the disksl from accidental turning, it being noticed in this connection'that the disks D doing the attachment can be reduced in size'.

The disks are adapted to bear on their .faces different inscriptions, such asionecent stamps, two-cent stamps, stamped envelops, postal cards, `inoneyoidel,r Vregistered letter `and analogous matter. any of which inscriptions can be disclosed byturning the handles until the desired v inscription appears through the sight opening.

Attached to the lower end and rear side of the hook 3 is a coin boxV 14 to contain the amount of money necessary to pay the carrier for the supplies desired and secured to said box and disposed contiguous to the rear face of the hook is a pair of springs 15 for clamping a letter reliably against the hook and thus make it easier for the carrier, particularly .in very cold weather, to perform his work.

Assuming that the device is equipped with an ordinary letter prdperly stamped, the owner will turn the disk so as to dispose a `blank space through the sight opening, and then hang the attachment. by means i of the hook, on the box, 16, for instance. He thon This filling strip not may lap at their inner edges as Vio closes the'flid-of the box and secures it in such position and thus prevents any unauthorized person from removing the attachment or from extracting the letter. The equipment of the box with the attachment is a signal that the carrier is wanted, and by noting that the blank space on the disk is exposed, lie'Will understand that a letter is .to be forwarded. If a money order is desired, this will show on the disks through the sight-opening, and the carrier will raise the lid of the box 16 and remove the attachment so that he can empty anything that the box 14 contains into his hand or lap. In the same manner any particular service desired can be indicated, it being obvious that if any particular directions are needed they can be embodied in a note secured in place by the springs 135.

In cold weather when the carrier-s hands are so cold as to prevent the free use of his fingers, this attachment will be found most convenient and will materially facilitate his work. After he has performed the service required, of whatever nature it may be, he

' rehooks the attachment back onto the box 16 and closes and locks the lid thereof, the attachment remaining in such position until the owner removes it..

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced an attachment for rural route mail boxes possessing the features of advantage enumerated as .desirable and I wish it to be understood that I do'not desire to be restricted/to the exact details of construction shown and described as obvious modifications will suggest themselves to one skilled in the art.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let-- ters-Patent is l. An attachment for mail boxes comprising a downwardly-disposed hook, a spring clamp carried by the attachment at the rear side of the terminal or free end of said hook pressing yieldingly toward said side to clamp an object thereagainst, and means at the front or exposed side of the attachment for indicating to the mail collector the presence of said object.

2. An attachment. for mail boxes comprising a downwardly-disposed hook, a receptacle at the terminal or free end of said hook, and means at the free or exposed side of the attachment for indicating to the mail collector that there is something for collection in said box.

3. An attachment for mail boxes comprising a downwardly -disposed hook, a box carried at the terminal or free end of said hook, a spring elamprearward of said hook and adapted to press an object yieldingly thereagainst, and indicating means at the front -or exposed side of the attachment.

4:. The combination with a rural route mail box, of an attachment comprising a plate having a downwardly disposed hook to engage a vertical wall of said box and be secured thereto by the lid-of the mail box when fastened, a front plate spaced from and forward of the first-named plate and provided with a sight-opening, a rotatable disk betweenA said plates and partially exposed through said sight-opening, and means for turning said disk.

5. The combination with a rural route mail box, of an attachment comprising a plate having a downwardly disposed hook to engage a vertical wall of said box and be secured thereto by the lid of the mail boxwhen fastened, a front plate spaced from' and forward of the first-named plate and provided .with a sight-opening, a rotatable disk between said plates and partially exposed through said sight-opening, means for turning said disk, and a box attached to the hook and disposed inward of the mail box.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH H. BROCKYVAY.

Witnesses:

Asn E. VAUGHAN, JOSEPH H. BoTTs. 

